Apparatus for sterilizing water.



E. ZAHM.

APPARATUS FOR STERILIZING WATER.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 24, 1910.

1,005,493. Patented Oct. 10,1911.

COLUMBIA FLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, 0, c4

anion.

EDWARD ZAI-IIVI, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR STERILIZING WATER.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. to, 1911;

Application filed December 24, 1910. Serial No. 598,222.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD ZAHM, a. citizen of the United States, residing at No. Norwood avenue, in the city of Buffalo, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Sterilizing Water, of which the followin is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof.

In the bottling of various liquids and particularly in the bottling of beer, which is liable to infection especially from bottles which have been used previously, it is desirable that the bottles, after being washed, shall be rinsed with sterile water, and it is also desirable that the water which has been treated to the sterilizing temperature shall be delivered to the rinsing machine at a proper temperature which should be maintained substantially constant.

The use of counter-current sterilizers, in which the heat of the liquid, after the temperature has been raised to the sterilizing degree, is absorbed by the cold unsterllized liquid, is common, but in the use of such sterilizers as heretofore constructed, it has not been possible to regulate with sufiicient closeness the temperature of the sterilized liquid which is delivered from the apparatus, especially under such varying conditions as exist in the special uses referred to, that is, in the preparation of bottles for filling.

It is, therefore, the object of this invention to improve the construct-ion of countercurrent sterilizers so that the predetermined temperature differential between the inflowing water and the outflowing water can be regulated easily and maintained substantially constant under varying conditions of use which are created especially by difierences in temperature of the surrounding atmosphere and by the shutting oli of the rinsing machine from time to time.

In accordance with the invention provision is made for varying the quantity of water diverted from the sterilizing apparatus to the rinsing machine or other place of use with respect to the quantity of cold water delivered to the apparatus, the temperature differential being, generally speaking, inversely proportional to the differential of flow at the inlet and the main outlet.

The invention will be more fully explained hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing, the single figure of which represents in elevation a sterilizing apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention, the cooler being partly broken out to save space.

In the arrangement represented in the drawing the cold water, which is to be sterilized, is admitted through a pipe (4 to one end of the outer pipe Z) of a double pipe, counter-current cooler c. From the other end of the outer pipe Z; of the cooler the water, which has absorbed heat, is conducted by a pipe (Z to the sterilizer e, which is shown as provided with a steam jacket f. The capacity of the sterilizer e is such as to permit the water to remain therein a sufficiently long time to be raised to the required temperature notwithstanding a constant inflow and constant outflow. From the sterilizer the sterilized water is conducted by a pipe 9, through an interposed filter h if desired, to one end of the inner pipe 2' of the cooler. From the other end of the inner pipe 2' the sterilized and now cooled water is conducted by a pipe 7a to the rinsing machine or other place-of use. The outer pipe I) of the cooler is not only connected to the sterilizer but is also provided with a secondary outlet Z which may be formed as a branch from the pipe (Z at any point between the cooler and the sterilizer, so that a portion of the water which has passed through the cooler and has therefore absorbed heat from the sterilized water, may be diverted from the sterilizer and delivered through a secondary outlet. This secondary outlet is provided with a regulating valve m so that the quantity of water diverted from the sterilizer and delivered through the secondary outlet may be regulated according to the temperature clifferential which is to be maintained between the cold water admitted at a and the sterilized water discharged from the main outlet to the place of use. Thus, if the valve m is opened wider the volume of cold water admitted at a bears a greater proportion to the volume of cooled water delivered to the outlet pipe is, and as the volume of water delivered at the pipe 70 is the same as thatwhich passes through the pipe i of the cooler, in a given time, the temperature of the water, which has been heated to a sterilizing temperature in the sterilizer e, is reduced and the temperature difi'erential, between the inlet water and the water discharged at the main outlet, is decreased. On

the other hand, if the valve m is closed entirely, the quantity of Water delivered through the main outlet is the same as that admitted at the inlet and the temperature differential is therefore the maximum. The main outlet pipe in and the secondary outlet pipe Z are also provided respectively with valves 12 and 0, the handles a and 0 of which are connected by a link 39 so that When the main outlet 70 is closed the secondary outlet Z is also closed, thereby preventing any waste of water. Furthermore, when the predetermined temperature differential has been established by regulation of the valve m, the same pressure differential is maintained whatever the rate of use of the sterilized water through variation of the flow from the secondary outlet in proportion to the variation of the flow from the main outlet.

It will be understood that various changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of the apparatus and that the invention is not limited to the precise details of construction and arrangement shown and described herein.

' I claim as my invention:

An apparatus for sterilizing water, comprising a double pipe cooler having an inlet for the cold water to be sterilized, a sterilizing vessel, a connection to conduct water from one pipe of the cooler to the sterilizer, a connection to conduct water from the sterilizer to the other pipe of the cooler, a main outlet pipe connected to the last named pipe of the cooler, a secondary outlet pipe connected to the first named pipe of the cooler, means to regulate the flow through the main outlet pipe and means to regulate the flow through the secondary outlet pipe, both-of said means being coupled together to operate simultaneously.

This specification signed and witnessed this 16th day of December, A. D., 1910.

EDl VARD ZAHM.

Signed in the presence of- LAURETTA M. CONNELL, MARGARET E. CHESTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

